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Buying an enclosure for your tarantula is quite simple. You just need to know which enclosure fits your tarantula. An arboreal (tree living) prefers height over width while a (burrowing) terrestrial (ground living) prefers width over height. Also, you need to make sure the enclosure is not too big or too small for your specimen; it needs enough space but you don't want it to get lost. Also note that you don't pick an enclosure that's higher than 50 centimeter because falling down (on hard objects) can damage or even kill your tarantula.

 

You can get the enclosure itself in many different ways:

1: create glass enclosures yourself or let them be created by a company.

2: buy glass or plastic enclosures from a pet/reptile store.

3: buy glass or plastic enclosures at an reptile/arthropod expo.

4: be creative and use old glass bottles or plastic boxes.

Enclosure Setup

A tarantula doesn't need much more than soil, a hiding spot and a water bowl. Ofcourse for the looks you can add some (fake) plants and branches.

Before you start with decorating the enclosure, you must take a look at the soil you are going to use since there are different options. The soil I prefer to use is peat.

Next up is a nice hiding spot for you tarantula to live in. Note that some terrestrial species (my Lasiodora parahybana for example) and burrowing species don't care about a hiding spot so you can leave it out. You can create a nice hide out by using cork bark, old pottery, branches, leaves or plants... just be creative and most of the time the tarantula will decorate it with their webs anyways! The only thing you need to watch out for is that everything is stable.

A nice addition for your enclosure is a rear wall (cork). It looks very nice and you can attach (fake) plants and branches onto it.

 

Whenever you feel like the enclosure is finished, you can happily introduce the tarantula to its new home.

For arboreal spiderlings

For arboreal spiderlings

- for spiderlings smaller than about 1 centimeter - the enclosure is basically a small pill cup

For arboreal spiderlings

For arboreal spiderlings

- for spiderlings bigger than 1 centimeter - 9 centimeter diameter - 11 centimeter high

For arboreal juveniles

For arboreal juveniles

- for spiderlings to juveniles bigger than around 2 centimeter - 13 centimeter diameter - 11 centimeter high

For arboreal juveniles

For arboreal juveniles

- for juveniles bigger than around 4 centimeter - 8 x 12 x 18 centimeter

For arboreal (sub-)adults

For arboreal (sub-)adults

- for sub-adults or smaller adults - 21 x 20 x 30 centimeter

For arboreal adults

For arboreal adults

- for bigger adults - 30 x 30 x 50 centimeter

For terrestrial spiderlings

For terrestrial spiderlings

- for spiderlings smaller than 1 centimeter - 9 centimeter diameter - 5 centimeter high

For terrestrial spiderlings

For terrestrial spiderlings

- for spiderlings to juveniles bigger than 1 centimeter - 19 x 12 x 8 centimeter

For terrestrial juveniles

For terrestrial juveniles

- for juveniles bigger than 4 centimeter - 25 x 19 x 7 centimeter

For terrestrial (sub-)adults

For terrestrial (sub-)adults

- for sub-adults or smaller adults - 30 x 30 x 30 centimeter - keep the soil about 5 to 10 centimeter

For terrestrial adults

For terrestrial adults

- for bigger adults - 30 x 60 x 30 centimeter - keep the soil about 5 to 10 centimeter

For burrowing spiderlings

For burrowing spiderlings

- for spiderlings or juveniles - 10 centimeter diameter - 16 centimeter high - keep the soil about halfway the enclosure

For burrowing (sub-)adults

For burrowing (sub-)adults

- for sub-adults or adults - 30 x 30 x 30 centimeter - keep the soil about 20+ centimeter

Terrestrial enclosures:

Arboreal enclosures:

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